I had been a Straighttalk user for the past couple of years with very little issues with their services until I baught their Android phone. I went on the internet and looked at tethering my Android to my laptop. I had checked out a few websites that had offered a free service but,of coarse,after a trial period you had to pay for their services. Well,to my surprise I had found a website that offered free service without having to commite to their service after a trial period. That website is PDAnet.com. I am warning all Straighttalk Android users planning on tethering their phones to not do it. I downloaded everything for tethering my Android right from PDAnet's webpage,which also included downloading everything needed on my phone. Everything seemed to be going great,until about a month into me using this tethering,my phone had been disconnected from Straighttalk. I had called Straighttalk to see why this was happening and they had told me that I was using the tethering too much and PDAnet wanted my service disconnected.

After a couple of hours of complaining and quit a few phone calls to Straighttalk we came to the agreement that they would reactivate my phone as long as I agreed to not use the tethering as much as I had been. Both Straighttalk n I agreedand my service was restored. All was well until 2 weeks later when i was in the middle of sending sms messages to my daughter,my service was shut off again!!!

Every time I tried sending an sms an error message would show on my screen with a CODE 97 and to call customer service.

Once again I had called Straighttalk to see what a CODE 97 was and why my service was disconnected again. The first person I talked to told me they were sorry for any inconvenience this may be causing me but I had to call another office number and talk to a supervisor. When I asked what a CODE 97 was,this person would not tell me anything about it. In fact he kept backpeddaling and appologizing and avoiding my question about the CODE 97. He did give me another number I needed to call but he informed me that it was past their office hours and I would need to call them tomorrow. First off if my phone was shut off at 10pm and their office closes at 8pm how can they expect their customers to be understanding n not get pissed about their services being disconnected??? The Straighttalk guy hung up on me...

The next morning I had tried to call that number given to me the night before by Straighttalk but I couldnt do to my services being shut off...I had to call Straighttalk customer service back again. I told them I was given this number to call because my phone had a CODE 97 but I couldnt call because they shut my phone off and i needed them to connect me to that other number thru them. As I waited half an hour on hold,I finally got to talk to a supervisor!!!

Well this supervisor had appologized for any inconveniences this has caused me and continued on to tell me that my services have been terminated indefinately. INDEFINATELY!!! What!!! She had explained that I had been warned numerous times about using PDAnet and I didnt listen to their warnings so they terminated my services. Of coarse I was getting really pissed by now and I had asked the woman to give me some dates of these warnings because it wasnt true on their part. I had the 1 phone conversation with Straighttalk when the had previously disconnected my services and made the agreement with them to not use PDAnet "as much" as I had been. I went on to tell this woman that I had NOT used PDAnet at all since I had made this agreement to keep my service going. This woman preceeded to argue I had numerous warnings from them about using PDAnet. We had argued back n forth about the usage and yet she still would not give me any dates of these so called warnings from them. She had also notified me that my Android cellphone will not be able to be reactivated ever again. What!! So,i asked her what they want to do about the rest of the month of service I had paid for and the $150.00 I spent on this Android phone. Were they willing to re-emburse me for any of the money I spent? She told me that the only thing I could do is buy another phone from Wal-Mart and have it activated with a new number and service card then call them back to see if I will get the rest of my month I paid for put on the new phone.

So,here I am without my phone,a phone I spent $150.00 on that will never be activated again by me or anyone else,and having to spend even more money to buy another phone and service card.I cant beleive that Straighttalk would even think I would stay with them after all the wasted money I spent on something that is now useless to me or anyone else all because of tethering.

I will never use Straighttalk again and I hope all the Straighttalk users out there please take my warning of the tethering use. Please dont do it so this wont happen to you too. Im very dissatified with the outcome of this whole situation.Discusted is more like it!!

CrystalMar 06

I could understand straight talk not allowing tethering if they offered a 4G wifi hotspot but they don't. They only have a 3G hotspot you can purchase. I can't get Verizon due to bad credit and Verizon or Straight talk through Verizon are the only ones that get service where I live.

Crystal, have you considered Verizon prepaid? It is the same $45/mo as Straight Talk, no credit checks, and unlimited talk / text. They do have a lower limit on data, but you can add data as needed without resetting your monthly charge. Note that I have NO affiliation with Verizon, I am adding this post as I currently use Verizon Wireless due to their strong signal in my area as opposed to the prepaid providers such as Boost and Virgin Mobile who use Sprint which is weak at my home.

Nana, why do you consider Verizon a "rip-off"? They charge the same as Straight Talk, for better service (you rank higher in priority when phone traffic is heavy) and 1GB is more data than most people use. Don't overlook at the data heavy apps such as those that require streaming such as Netflix, Pandora or even the local radio station via Internet are prohibited on Straight Talk.

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mAtTFeb 05

U should have gotten a lawyer ant taken it to court four the money all phone called are recorded and documented so u could have had them bring up any phone calls about the tethering and sense they just had the one it they would have to pay u for the phone and the rest of that month and sense u went gonna use straight talk any more then they would have had to either re-enable the phone or pay u in cash or check.

04Reply

Anonymous
to mAtT Feb 05

The USA phone companies are milking the people! Where the real communication cost comes from are the people that live on the phone 24/7. If the cell tower device is in use as a wireless phone or as a tethering port there is very little difference in bandwidth overhead. The phone contract is to make money by their rules and rules can be changed by better competition!

To be fair with Straight Talk, they did raise the bar when introduced and really shook up the smartphone industry with their (then) low rates. At the time, all other competitors were higher in price or offered less of one feature or another - limited calls, limited text, more limited data or a combination of all 3. So indeed the better competition does work, and it works well, as most providers have met the $45/mo price point, typically with unlimited talk and text, and varying amounts of data. Which alternative is best for you depends on your needs. My personal dislike of Straight Talk deals with customer service issues - a major shortcoming of their parent company who has been a leader in low cost communications at a compromise. As for tethering, I can live with that limitation. As for lack of streaming, say of audio (example, Pandora or a brief YouTube video) when away from a hot spot, that is a deal breaker for me.

10Reply

BobAug 02, 2014

Dude. You should sue them! That's awful!

38Reply

Anonymous
to Bob Nov 06, 2014

Dude, that is ridiculous and surely you are kidding. Those who think they are entitled to tethering as it was not prohibited when they purchased the phone don't seem to grasp that along the way - they were required to agree to the new TOS if they wanted to continue to use the phone. Verizon once had true unlimited Internet, and even allowed tethering. Many people "grandfathered" in and were allowed to keep that. But they did it to prevent the fallout, and because few people had smartphones back then.

babygirlJul 27, 2014

This doesn't help much. but it says you agree to the terms useing the phone. on the outside of the box the phone came in no teethering.. not just a little or sometimes. you broke your agreement theybabygirl drop you ALWAYS. READ. FINE. PRINT SORRY

31Reply

Anonymous
to babygirl Feb 05

Well it shouldn't b that big of an issue he is still using there services they r getting payed either way and the whole point of a no contract phone is so ur not blinded down by things like tht its bs that tethering isn't allowed he played for the service y can't he use it in his WiFi only tablet or notebook or laptop or whatever he wants to they still get $45 a month either way

12Reply

MisanthropicJul 26, 2014

100% your fault!Try reading the TOS next time.What do you expect for $45/month? Too much, apparently!

70Reply

michaelJul 10, 2014

thanks for the info. im fed up with straighttalk on my android. my location map keeps saying i'm in oahu when I live on Maui. I cant use any apps that provide my location because i'm not in Oahu. I have rebooted more times than i can count with unchecking and rechecking the location settings. i've sent numerous complaints yet noone has bothered to contact me or fix the problem. im going to throw the phone in the ocean and go back to my flip phone, i dont need this *** or this frustration! these cell phone companies are more trouble than they are worth... and to think i'm actually paying for this service!!

Hi, this is Maria with Straight Talk Wireless. I read your post and am sorry that you are having problems. Please send me your contact information to the following email address ST.CorpResolutionTeam@straighttalk.com. We can help you get the problem resolved right away. Please include your name, phone serial number or cell phone number. Just copy and paste your comments from the blog and include it in your email or you can chat with us live @ http://bit.ly/16DrgbW.

711Reply

anonymousJul 09, 2014

I've been using ST for several years now. The only thing remotely like a problem is some issues with new phones I've purchased that used a different carrier than I had been using. Only one carrier seems to work here at the house. Problems were resolved by getting correct phone, still with them. Cant seem to get the hang of surfing on my phone. That's why I'm checking into tethering, Didn't realize ST ban that. Still researching..